People don't know how to behave reasonably anymore. They project without thinking, and lets face it. Young people brought up in todays society of
chaotic meaningless wack don't even know what the word moral means anymore. People thrive on being oxymorons and haven't got the brain capacity of a
slug, because if they did, they'd understand that the world doesn't bend down to them and their demands, contrary to their glorified snowflakeology of
suggestion given to them by professors too ball-less to say it like it is.

edit on 21-2-2018 by brokenghost because: The current stupid is hurting my cerebral cortex.

And yet, if they had not arrested him, in light of recent events, there only would have been the same people (including an awful lot of pro-2nd
people), complaining that he should never have been walking around free to commit the crime in the first place, because of his having made threats for
which he was already criminally liable.

Can we afford to not at least check when people, young adolescent men, make threats like that?
Maybe it's a cry for help. A "Stop me before I kill" type of thing.

It's a slope I know. I am fully supportive of both the first and second amendments but I'm a mother too. I grieve for the parents who have had their
hearts ripped from their chests. I don't know how they deal with such pain.
I grieve for the young lives cut short.
The questions today and in the weeks to come are not easy. We don't want an invasive government watching every stupid thing we post online and making
decisions about our motives or violent capabilities.
geez I'd have them at my door every week because of my open criticism of trump.
But what if we can by a miracle get ahead of the tragedy? We'd be at a point then of it didn't happen vs it could have happened. We'd have protests
claiming the gov't was jumping to conclusions or engaging in clairvoyancy.
But if we can prevent it? If we can spare one child a life lost or one parent a crushed heart shouldn't we?

Anger floods my inside parts because of something I just read. Because of this I have a thought.

I wonder what the OP of this thread would look like without skin, I think to myself in my head, all alone while sitting on a couch eating Cheetos.

Feds bust down my door and arrest me for thinking bad thoughts. I cry on the way to prison.

THOUGHT CRIME.............

I post a picture of myself holding a knife pointed at a picture of the OP. Below the picture are the words. I wonder what you look like without
skin.

Feds bust down my door and arrest me for threatening someone. I laugh on my way to prison.

ACTUAL THREAT.........

Maybe this guy really just wanted to go back to school. But after a tragic school shooting. A 24 years old man posting a picture of the same gun used
in the school shooting with the caption, "I'm thinking of finally going back to school." Can be considered a threat. There is precedent going back
decades that shows this.

This is as far from a thought crime as you can get. Unless you think everyone on the internet is a split personality of yourself, and the whole of the
web is in your mind. Then posting threats on the internet might be a thought crime.

The target would be any school that is associated with him. Maybe one on the corner by his house. Maybe one he attended. Maybe one his nephew is
bullied at. But the target is "school".

Under Texas law, what he said was enough to be a threat. Always has been since i've been alive. Disturbing the peace is another law that can be
used, but i wouldn't support that if terroristic threat laws are in place.

(1) cause a reaction of any type to his threat by an official or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies;

(2) place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;

(3) prevent or interrupt the occupation or use of a building, room, place of assembly, place to which the public has access, place of employment or
occupation, aircraft, automobile, or other form of conveyance, or other public place;

The ones threatened are the people who currently go to whatever school he went too. No time table or specific details. The threat was vague. But it
could still be interpreted as a threat. The same way a prank bomb threat with no details is taken seriously as terrorism.

I wouldn't say to lock up the guy and throw away the key. That is a completely different thing. That has to do with sentencing. But I don't see
anything wrong with the police bringing the guy in for questioning. Being arrested does not mean you automatically get sent to the big house
forever.

Even without a heightened state of panic. I have seen people get arrested for stuff they had communicated using written/typed/tapped words. They got
their day before a judge. Just like this guy will. It is nothing new(except to how it applies to the internet but there is even precedent there) and
it has nothing to do with thought crimes.

Once the thought goes from thought to action(the action being typing it out and hitting send). It is no longer a thought crime. At least in my
opinion.

Now is this whole thing an overreaction for law enforcement dropping the ball with Cruz. Probably. Would this guy of been arrested last month.
Probably not. But it does not mean what he posted would not be considered a threat. Its just, probably, no one would of reported him. After what
happened though, someone did.

Now should what this guy did be considered a threat. That is a different discussion to me.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
It isnt thought policing. The dude used words and a photo.

If you put that photo up with the caption "its about time i head to bfft's house" you can expect i would notify the cops.

Under Texas state law a bomb threat is terroristic threat. Same here

This x1000

Dude took a picture of his AR 15 with a vaguely threatening message included about visiting the school. I'm not sure how much more blatant you can
get, and if anyone thinks it better to just wait and see if he actually does shoot up the school then I'm not sure reason is going to reach you.

Lots of maybes bfft. In the (a) portion of that statute you will find an intent clause. Given there is no specific persons or places, that intent
would be very difficult to prove. On this posting alone that is.

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